Short Stories

Eric Dulay
10-6-07
IP 411
Summary of chapter 3
Pimples:
Well Pimples is a story of a boy who is becoming a teen so in the adolescence period. The story centers around Dodo and how he likes to day dream that he will fall in love with a beautiful girl someday. He remembers making a move on Maring by giving her a flower but gets rejected because of the words that he might have said in his poetry. Kitin Kusipit, a friend of his, has a conversation with Dodo denying him his day dream of his precious Maring. He later goes to the Neighborhood general store where they serve alcohol. There is man, Mang Anno is a costumer and is already drunk; he is trying to woo the girl, Manang Pinang, at the counter. Dodo, Manang Pinang, and the man have a conversation putting him in a position that he isn’t a man. He then forces himself to drink the basi and have his chance at Manang Pinang. When he gets up he is forced to remember what happened to him and he is then angered by what Mang Anno called him.
This story to me was very interesting in the fact that it is a story of a period that we all faced or will face. It shows that if we are insecure about our self’s and put in a position that forces us to make decisions. It to me is what facing life is.

The Stangers:
Strangers started off by a family moving within a night period. It seemed strange that the abandon house next door would be the choice, so immediately there was suspicion within the neighborhood. The children of that family look as if they haven’t gotten a bite to eat so even more judgment was put on them. Within a couple of days, or even weeks, that family set out in trying to be as neighborly as possible by fixings peoples roofs and participating in events. Eventually, people just shunned that family making them the outcast of the barangay. The mother has a conversation with the narrator’s mother and ended up spilling her life story. She says that their family wasn’t like how they are. They use to be the leaders of their own barangay and she was a healer. A disease swept through the village and she was trying to heal the old man. But not everyone could be saved not even how good you are. They got accused of being witches and they left before things got worse. Even after that heart filled conversation, the narrator’s family still saw them as a threat. Until one day a fire was seen in the distance and was heading towards the barangay immediately people started taking out their prized possessions and move them as close to the river as possible. The shunned family then took action by helping everyone instead of taking their own stuff out. They organized a bucket brigade to stop the fire. While this was going on the father went into the narrator’s house and ended up under a pillar being burnt to a crisp. Their bravery act that their father ended up getting killed seem to give them the right to be part of the Barangay, but when they tried to go there and formally welcome the family, they were greeted with an abandon house.
Overall, this is a story of morality and that judging people because of some of their actions isn’t right. I understood why the family went and left after the fire. It is because they didn’t want to be accused of starting the fire. It also serves the barangay right that they also get shunned for not welcoming them to their system. The greatest tragedy was that the father ended up getting killed without judging others.

Rice for the Moon:
Rice for the moon setting is set up in the mid 1940’s and is about a family that is going to the richest person that they know. It foreshadows that there is a war going on. The story is told by odet a boy nine years of age and is very trustworthy. The real issue is that the town is on the verge of starving and is in need of food. Manang Ason is caught up in that struggle between of love and what would help the town. There is a flash back moment where she is having a secret relationship with Manong Nardo out in the banana patch. They embrace in secrecy and Manang Ason is forced to have Odet not to tell their father. She is now forced to marry Don Gaspar who is wealthy with power and food. Odet doesn’t realize it but that meeting that Manang Ason had with Manong Nardo was the last they will ever have.
This story signals a morality difference that breaks a person apart. It actually is the story line of a video game called Final Fantasy 10. I really thought that this story was interesting because it puts a view of people in the time of war. I always hear the stories that my grandma always tells me about the war and how she had to run into the mountains so that she wouldn’t get caught.

The Avocado Tree:
This story is about a family that is in California because they describe Grape fields, but is still unclear where. It is about this lady that goes to her house and remembers the events that happened while looking at an avocado tree. Her husband works in the Vineyards and his English isn’t so great. He plants an avocado tree in the front yard and says that the tree will bare fruit the same time that his boy would grow up. Later in the years, his boy isn’t what he expected and starts to make judgment on him. The Avocado also is showing signs that it isn’t growing like it would in the old country. It kept on escalating and eventually it build up to the point where his father stabbed him and after attacked the avocado tree saying that “don’t call me dad….don’t call me dad” while stabbing the avocado tree.
This story was a case that they needed counseling in the family so that they could understand each other instead of the violence. The family name was the biggest concern of the father and it wasn’t an easy for him to do. I actually feel for the whole situation because the talking wasn’t there and no intervention was present. I guess the moral is that being in a different place doesn’t mean that things will be the same, instead embrace on what you got and adopt the styles around.

Sing, Cicada, Sing!:
This is a story of Dr. Pete Ringor also known as Idot and his wife coming back to his old neighbothood in the Ilokos. He was known as a cry baby before and now he is a doctor; he has seen life being born and also people on the operating table. Within the 15 years that he moved away, he still remembers most of the people and places that he has been at. On the way there he hears a boy sing the song sing, cicada, sing he sings it and I guess brings back memories. When they reach the town he is surrounded by his old friends. They asked him how many children he has because they see his lovely wife. He answers by saying that he wants to enjoy marriage first. His wife is in agreement to taking the Birth control pills. When he finally gets to his house it is late in the evening and is just finished eating dinner. Before bed he tells his wife that he needs to show her something outside. They leave the house in their bed attire and no shoes and end up in the field where they play like little kids. It all ended up with them making love in the moons light. Not once, or twice, but three times. The reason why is that at that moment he wanted kids.
This is a very uplifting story which I liked very much because you realize that your best memories are sometimes the places where you grow up. In a sense you would want to make an impression on your memories by creating new ones. I guess that also the saying goes the more things change; the more they stay the same.

Selmo Returns Home:
This is a story of a Salamo going home to his place of birth, San Miguel. He is welcomed by many people that he knew including his mother, old Gervaisa and his sister, Sanang. He has been gone for a good 30 years. The people in the town seem greedy in only receiving gifts instead of embracing his return. He is forced to give almost all his possessions including his shaving kit. He goes and pays a visit to a person that he thought was in America. He learns that when he came back to town he was forced to be a farmer despite his efforts on getting a power plant and owning his own business. His dreams were demolished. As Salamo left he kept on uttering poor fellow and realized it was his own self. When he arrived home his mother asked him which girl he was courting; he wasn’t so happy to hear what she said. He later decided that his home is in America and nothing was going to change his mind including his own mother. As he left he spoke to his sister about the mango tree in the yard saying that they should cut the tree down because the root are rotting and might hurt somebody.
This is the other truth of going back and trying to make a change and living there. It doesn’t work out because people and ideas still stay the same and also the customs of how the community functions. Going back to one’s birth place sometimes means to forget life as you know it and become how it always was. Over all I understand the situation that this person is going through.

A bottle of Rain:
This is a story of a farmer whose land is in need of rain to relief his plants on his farm. His wife remains optimistic on the chance that the rains will come. She saved some rain water in a bottle because the belief is that when hung out side, and it starts boiling, it signals that the rain will come soon. The husband disagrees on the wife’s foolish act in the beliefs and ends up wrestling the bottle out of her hand a breaking it. She is mad at him and leaves him in that room. Later a parade of prayers starts up and progress to the church. The farmer himself was drinking and wasn’t showing that he believed in that prayer. He saw his wife and in-laws there and decided to go and disrupt and put an end to the madness. He goes and interrupts the priest who shrugs him off with the help of his wife and in-law’s. As soon as he did that the clouds were darkening and suddenly the sound of lightning struck and rain started. He then yelled out I believe
This story is sarcasm of non-believers who in some cases have given up hope on their bad situations. Sometime the fact to give up hope is not good and wise of an idea. Sometime accepecting other options that may not seem tangible is the best solution that could enforce hope. In my own situation it is actually the sarcasm that I ramble about that sometimes gives me hope. It’s an oxymoron but whatever helps, helps.

Requiem for Grandfather:
This story tells about a death in the family and how the ritual of the passing is showed. The people in this story show it from the point of Odet and young boy who seems to be the last person to see his grandfather alive. He is pulled out of school and travels home still not believing that his grandfather is dead. Only when he gets close to the house he sees his family crying and morning in their own way. At this time the dung-aw was being recited and Odet was about to cry, instead, his father told him to fetch his Carabou, Sikubing. They set off in getting the coffin in the town before the moon appeared in the sky. As they returned the dung-aw was ending and the mode of somber turn to a mode of celebrating. The next day, they mode was again somber and there was a short mass. They opened up the casket and the smell of death sprang up. Everyone had to step over the Casket in order to ask for forgiveness and only the father didn’t. He aggressive stomped away and ended up skipping over the casket.
I took great meaning to this story because my father passed away in my house. He had lung cancer and was at the end of his line. Just like the story we brought all the family together. We all cried when we witness his last breath. We called the coroner to pick up our father a couple of house later. It was very sad when he went but we ended up celebrating. Later on my mother and others recited the dung-aw. We ended up wearing as much black as possible. When the service was about to conclude, the rain poured as if to signal that he was also crying. I was the only one that felt that I didn’t need to cry because I was the closest to him and I learned as much that he could of taught.